Jrue Holiday Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Okoro, Horford, Matthews, P. Williams, Raptors

October 25th, 2023 at 2:09pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers and Isaac Okoro‘s representatives had “productive” talks ahead of Monday’s rookie scale extension deadline, but the two sides decided it was best to wait until next summer to address the forward’s contract situation, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

Sources tell Fedor that the conversations about a new deal for Okoro were in the neighborhood of the deal signed by Mavericks wing Josh Green (three years, $41MM). However, the Cavaliers want to wait and see how the former lottery pick fits with this year’s roster following the offseason additions of Max Strus and Georges Niang, since he no longer projects to be a starter.

Speaking to Fedor on Wednesday, Okoro said he felt like he “should have gotten an extension” but that playing out his contract year won’t affect the way he approaches the season.

“Of course, I wanted an extension, but it happened the way it happened,” he said. “I love Cleveland. I love being here. I love being around the players, coaches, front office staff, trainers. Built great relationships. I don’t take it as a big deal.”

Here are a few more items from around the Eastern Conference:

Celtics big man Al Horford told reporters on Wednesday that he won’t be in the starting lineup when the team’s season tips off in New York tonight, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link). That suggests Derrick White and Jrue Holiday will both start alongside Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis. For what it’s worth, head coach Joe Mazzulla said over the weekend that the Celtics will use multiple starting lineups this season, while Tatum said today that the team essentially has “six starters” (Twitter links via Jared Weiss of The Athletic and Bontemps).
Hawks swingman Wesley Matthews underwent an MRI on Tuesday that revealed a mild right calf strain, the team announced today (Twitter link). According to the Hawks, Matthews will be reevaluated in two weeks, so he’ll miss at least Atlanta’s first seven games of the regular season.
While Bulls forward Patrick Williams admitted on Monday that he would “obviously” like to have “a big contract,” he vowed that his lack of rookie scale extension won’t be a distraction at all this season, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “Anything personal in my life that I’ve been going through, any time I step between those four lines, it’s gone,” Williams said.
Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca takes an in-depth look at the Raptors‘ roster, exploring the team’s cap and tax situation as well as potential next steps for Jeff Dowtin, who didn’t make the regular season cut.

Celtics Notes: Porzingis, Salary Issues, Starting Lineup

October 19th, 2023 at 12:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics are facing a massive payroll in upcoming seasons, but they’re willing to spend big to compete for a title, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. After coming close several times over the last seven years, including last season’s Game 7 loss to Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals, Boston is committed to hanging another banner in the rafters.

The front office began overhauling the roster in late June when it acquired Kristaps Porzingis from Washington in a three-team deal. Porzingis provides coach Joe Mazzulla with the low-post threat he has been lacking, as Bontemps notes that Porzingis posted up 263 times last season, which was more per game than the entire Celtics team.

“Especially when (Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown) are playing, I felt like all the doors are open for me,” Porzingis said. “They take so much attention on themselves. For me, it was just like, honestly, it’s very, very fun to play, play like this and, and also emphasize the ball movement and, and getting everyone involved. I think once we click on all those things, it’s gonna be so hard to stop us.”

The Celtics gave Porzingis a two-year extension worth $60MM and signed Brown to a record-setting super-max deal that could pay him $300MM+ over five years. With Tatum eligible for an extension next summer and Jrue Holiday headed for free agency, Boston is committed to spending whatever it takes despite the second apron penalties contained in the new CBA.

“You’ve got to pay a good price for things, right?” president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said. ” That’s the way it goes. We’re trying to win a championship.”

There’s more from Boston:

Mazzulla has been experimenting with Porzingis during the preseason to see all the ways he can impact the offense, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Mazzulla is also trusting his players to figure out how they can benefit from the attention Porzingis draws from defenses. “I don’t know if you saw, one of the timeouts, all five guys on the floor were communicating with each other. That stuff is more important,” the head coach said after Tuesday’s game. “The more they can understand who’s guarding them and how to get each other the ball and where they need to get it, that really will help us.”
With the season opener less than a week away, the Celtics don’t have a set lineup, observes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Holiday came off the bench in the team’s first preseason game, and Al Horford filled that role on Tuesday. Mazzulla stated that he will often let matchups determine his starting five.
John Hollinger of the Athletic puts the Celtics at the top in his ranking of the best teams in the East with a projected record of 57-25. He notes that the team already had a solid foundation in place before adding Porzingis and Holiday, and now it has the versatility to adapt to almost any style of play. Boston also has two future first-round picks to trade, along with its 2031 first-rounder next summer, so there’s flexibility to keep improving.

Atlantic Notes: Watford, Nets, Barnes, Holiday, White

October 18th, 2023 at 11:46am CST by Luke Adams

Nets forward Trendon Watford, who is battling for a regular season roster spot, strengthened his case on Monday by scoring 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds in 16 minutes vs. Philadelphia, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. As Lewis notes, Watford also hit a pair of three-pointers and even operated as a secondary play-maker.

“(Nets coach Jacque Vaughn) is always just encouraging me, telling me little things to get better at and little things he sees. In the time I’ve been here, he’s put the ball in my hands a lot. So he likes how I play-make and stuff,” Watford told Lewis. “So yeah, that’s really it; he just wants me to keep doing that and keep getting better defensively. And I think I’ve took a step forward in that.”

The Nets have 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, plus Watford, Darius Bazley, and Harry Giles on non-guaranteed deals, so those three players may be vying for two regular season roster spots. As Net Income of NetsDaily observes, with one two-way slot still open, there’s a path to keeping all three of those non-guaranteed players into the regular season — giving one of them a two-way contract.

However, while Watford and Giles are both eligible to sign a two-way deal, they can’t be converted directly since their contracts don’t include an Exhibit 10 clause. That means they’d have to pass through waivers and re-sign with Brooklyn in order to receive a two-way contract from the team.

Let’s round up a few more notes from around the Atlantic…

The Raptors made former Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes “off limits” in trade talks for Kevin Durant last year and Damian Lillard this offseason, league sources tell Zach Lowe of ESPN. Reports that linked Toronto to Durant and Lillard when they were available strongly indicated the team wasn’t willing to include Barnes in its offers.
A report earlier this month suggested that USA Basketball is aggressively pursuing Jrue Holiday for its 2024 Olympic roster. The Celtics guard said on Monday that he hasn’t heard directly from Team USA yet, but expressed interest in playing in Paris, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “Why not?” Holiday said. “I want to see what we can do out there.”
After starting 70 of the 82 games he played for the Celtics last season, Derrick White isn’t necessarily guaranteed a spot in the starting five following the acquisitions of Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. White said this week that he’s fine with starting or coming off the bench and will go with the flow, tweets Weiss.

Atlantic Notes: Korkmaz, Robinson, Poeltl, Embiid

October 15th, 2023 at 7:09pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Sixers wing Furkan Korkmaz is making progress from a hamstring injury but he’s not quite ready to play. He participated in Sunday’s practice, Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports tweets, but is doubtful to suit up on Monday. He could return for for Friday’s preseason finale.

“I feel much better,” Korkmaz told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “It’s really like day to day. I’m really close to [playing]. I will be happy to see myself on the court.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Mitchell Robinson’s name came up in the Knicks’ talks with the Trail Blazers regarding a potential Jrue Holiday deal before Portland shipped Holiday to Boston, Ian Begley of SNY reports. Robinson will likely draw interest from other suitors when discussing a major trade with the Knicks, Begley adds. Robinson has three years left on his contract but the cap hit declines on a yearly basis.
Center Jakob Poeltl missed the Raptors’ preason game on Sunday due to an illness, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca tweets. Precious Achiuwa (groin) and Otto Porter Jr. (injury rehab) also sat out.
Reigning Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid will make his preseason debut on Monday against Brooklyn, Pompey tweets.

Celtics Notes: Porzingis, White, Holiday, Van Gundy, Queta

October 14th, 2023 at 9:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

In an interview with Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston (video link), new Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis said he’s excited to be with a team that has a chance to win a title. Porzingis has only been to the playoffs twice in his eight NBA seasons, and his team lost in the first round both times. He had to exercise his option for the upcoming season so the trade that sent him from Washington to Boston could be completed, and he’s convinced that he made the right choice.

“It feels like, at this point in my career, this is what I really wanted, to be able to try to win it all, and especially wearing these colors and this organization, which is, as I keep saying, if not the most iconic than top two most iconic franchises there are,” Porzingis said. “And I’m playing for this team. So it’s absolutely incredible. An incredible opportunity for me, and I’m just grateful for it all.”

Porzingis appeared headed for stardom when he entered the NBA, but injuries have slowed him down throughout his career. He played in 65 games for the Wizards last season, his highest total since 2016/17, but a new concern cropped up this summer when Porzingis had to miss the World Cup tournament because of plantar fasciitis. He said his foot feels fine now, and he credits team doctors with helping him to manage the pain.

“The medical staff did an incredible job of loading slowly,” Porzingis said. “I wanted to go right away as soon as I got here to play pick-up the first day. But they held me back a little bit. I listened to them and it’s been going perfect, ready for training camp and ready to go.”

There’s more from Boston:

Derrick White and Jrue Holiday could form the league’s best defensive backcourt, observes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. He points out that the Celtics’ defense was 4.5 points per 100 possessions better with White on the court last season, while Holiday made Milwaukee’s defense 4.1 points per 100 possessions better whenever he played. “It’s fun,” Holiday said of playing alongside White. “I think the chemistry is there. Even just the first few days of training camp talking to him about what he likes to do defensively, or even just asking him about certain things. But getting out there and actually being able to play with him a bit more, getting that court time has been good for us.”
Coach Joe Mazzulla is thrilled to have Jeff Van Gundy serving as a consultant to the team, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. Mazzulla said Van Gundy has already proven to be valuable in his short time with the organization and he plans to seek his advice on coaching questions throughout the season.
The Celtics will likely keep Neemias Queta on a two-way contract for a while even if he plays well to start the season, Brian Robb of MassLive states in a mailbag column. Queta can appear in up to 50 games on the two-way deal, and the team can convert it to a standard contract later on.

Western Notes: Jazz, Holiday, Morant, Vezenkov, Strawther

October 12th, 2023 at 7:52am CST by Luke Adams

The Jazz were involved in the Jrue Holiday sweepstakes before the All-Defensive guard was traded from Portland to Boston, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune.

Larsen hears that Utah considered an offer that included multiple first-round picks for the standout guard. However, he notes that ESPN’s Bobby Marks said during a radio appearance that the Jazz were wary of pursuing Holiday too aggressively without any assurances that he’d commit to the team long-term. The 33-year-old holds a player option for the 2024/25 season, so he could have been just a one-year rental.

Having missed out on Holiday, the Jazz don’t have a clear-cut option to start at point guard and it’s clear that head coach Will Hardy is “struggling with this decision,” Larsen writes. As Tony Jones of The Athletic notes, each of the candidates for the role has exhibited his flaws as well as his strengths so far during camp and the preseason.

Collin Sexton isn’t a natural point guard and Talen Horton-Tucker and Keyonte George are still relatively raw as point guards, according to Jones, who adds that starting Kris Dunn would make it tricky for the team to find minutes off the bench for Sexton. Jordan Clarkson was also considered a candidate for the point guard job, but the Jazz appear more comfortable having him in a sixth-man role, so the competition could be down to four players.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

When Ja Morant‘s 25-game suspension was announced in June, the NBA indicated that the Grizzlies guard would have to meet certain conditions to be reinstated. The league provided an update this week, indicating that Morant’s suspension won’t be shortened but also isn’t expected to extend beyond 25 games, report Sam Amick and Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
Ziaire Williams played well as the Grizzlies‘ fifth starter in Tuesday’s preseason win over Milwaukee, but head coach Taylor Jenkins isn’t ready to commit to that spot for the regular season, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Luke Kennard appears to be Williams’ top competition for that starting spot, with Jake LaRavia, David Roddy, and John Konchar looming as wild card, per Cole.
Kings head coach Mike Brown is unsure whether NBA newcomer Sasha Vezenkov will be part of the team’s rotation when the regular season begins, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. In a separate story, Anderson points out that Vezenkov started in place of injured forward Keegan Murray (thumb) on Wednesday, but Chris Duarte took Vezenkov’s spot in the lineup to open the third quarter. According to Brown, Vezenkov’s ability to hold his own on defense will be a significant factor in determining his role.
Nuggets rookie Julian Strawther, vying for a rotation spot, had an impressive preseason debut on Tuesday vs. Phoenix, piling up 20 points, five rebounds, and three assists with no turnovers in 21 minutes off the bench. Bennett Durando of The Denver Post has the details, observing that Strawther’s ability to space the floor may help earn him a regular role.

NBA GMs Like Celtics’ Offseason Moves, Title Chances

October 10th, 2023 at 11:59am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics and Bucks made the best overall moves this offseason, according to the NBA’s general managers. In his annual survey of the league’s top basketball decision-makers, John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes that 23% picked Boston as having the best summer, while another 23% picked Milwaukee. The Trail Blazers (17%) and Lakers (13%) were among the other clubs who received multiple votes.

Of course, the Celtics’ and Bucks’ pre-camp trades for Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard, respectively, were huge factors in the positive perception of their offseasons. Of Schuhmann’s GM respondents, 47% said the Lillard acquisition was the most impactful move of the offseason, while Boston’s addition of Holiday placed second at 13% (the Celtics’ trade for Kristaps Porzingis tied for fourth, at 7%).

Both Boston and Milwaukee are viewed by the league’s general managers as good bets to compete for the title in 2024. The Celtics were selected by 33% of Schuhmann’s respondents as the team that will win the championship the season, while the Bucks got 23% of the vote share. No other Eastern club received a vote, with the Nuggets (33%), Suns (7%), and Clippers (3%) representing the only other teams that were chosen as potential champs.

Here are a few more interesting results from Schuhmann’s GM survey, which is worth checking out in full:

As much as the NBA’s general managers like Boston’s roster, it was the Grizzlies‘ acquisition of Marcus Smart from Boston that was voted as the most underrated player addition of the summer (17%), narrowly edging out the Mavericks‘ sign-and-trade for Grant Williams (14%).
The NBA’s GMs are high on the Thunder. Oklahoma City was the runaway winner as the team with the league’s most promising young core (73%) and also earned the most votes for which club will be most improved in 2023/24 (30%).
Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama got plenty of love from the league’s GMs. He was the top choice for Rookie of the Year (50%) and was the overwhelming pick for which rookie will be the best player in five years (90%). He also placed second among the players Schuhmann’s respondents would most want to start a franchise with today, with his 23% vote share trailing only Nikola Jokic‘s 33%.
NBA GMs expect Ime Udoka of the Rockets to be the head coach that has the biggest impact on his new team (57%), followed by Monty Williams of the Pistons (17%).
Jordi Fernandez of the Kings, viewed as a future NBA head coach, comfortably won the vote on the league’s best assistant (31%).
The NBA’s GMs consider Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (23%), Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (20%), and Magic forward Franz Wagner (13%) the top candidates for a breakout year.
Which rookie was the biggest steal in the 2023 draft? Rockets wing Cam Whitmore (43%) was the top choice, with Jazz guard Keyonte George, Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson, and Heat forward Jaime Jaquez each receiving 10% of the vote.

Celtics Notes: Porzingis, Holiday Trade, Scrubb

October 9th, 2023 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Kristaps Porzingis was the Celtics‘ best player during the first half of his preseason debut with the team, according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Boston traded for Porzingis this summer to add size to its frontcourt, and Himmelsbach observes that his 7’3″ presence clearly bothered the Sixers in the paint in Sunday’s game.

Porzingis made his first four shots from the field and finished with 17 points. Although he doesn’t present the lob threat that Robert Williams used to, Himmelsbach notes that the Celtics had success on a couple of attempts. Porzingis and Jayson Tatum also displayed some chemistry in their two-man game.

“It’s super easy, honestly,” Porzingis said. “Those guys are so talented. Jayson draws so much attention that it opens things up for me and that’s a perfect scenario for me. So I’m looking forward to more of those two-man, three-man actions where it’s really hard to guard, because we don’t even know what we’re going to do. We’re freestyling it and playing off of each other. So it has to be pretty impossible for the other team to understand what’s going to happen.”

There’s more on the Celtics:

Jrue Holiday came off the bench Sunday, but that’s because he wasn’t able to join the team for practice until Wednesday, writes Brian Robb of MassLive. Holiday admits being “shocked” that the Bucks sent him to Portland in the Damian Lillard deal, but he’s ready to concentrate on basketball after being dealt twice within a week. “I think I’m over it at this point,” Holiday said. “Trying to focus on the season. Trying to get acclimated and honestly go out there and have fun. All the trade stuff I think has passed. Just trying to figure out names and plays and schemes and all of that stuff. It’s been fun though.”
The Clippers were Boston’s main competition for Holiday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski stated during the network’s pre-game show before Sunday’s contest (Twitter link). “They were very close on Jrue Holiday,” Wojnarowski said. “They had a package that Portland really had to labor over before they went to the Celtics’ package.”
Celtics officials are disappointed to see Jay Scrubb‘s progress interrupted by a torn ACL he suffered in Saturday’s practice, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. They signed the 23-year-old guard to a two-way contract this summer. “It’s painful to see him have to go through that because of this mindset that he’s brought from training camp and really in Summer League,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “As I told him, these are the type of things that guys have to just work through.”

USA Basketball Aggressively Pursuing Jrue Holiday For Olympics

October 8th, 2023 at 6:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jrue Holiday has had a whirlwind offseason. The new Celtics point guard now has something else to ponder — a spot on Team USA’s roster for the Olympics.

USA Basketball is aggressively pursuing Holiday to return to Team USA and play in Paris, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.

Holiday, 33, is still mulling whether to accept the offer. There are 12 coveted spots on Team USA’s Olympic roster.

USA Basketball is trying to bounce back from this summer’s disappointing showing in the FIBA World Cup, in which it failed to win a medal. Many of the country’s star players skipped the World Cup.

USA Basketball officials considered Holiday the second-most-impactful player, after Kevin Durant, on the 2021 gold medal team. Holiday’s on-ball defense, play-making and leadership are among the factors behind USA Basketball’s recruitment, Wojnarowski adds.

The Olympic team is expected to include LeBron James, Durant, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum, if they accept invitations. Some other star players who publicly volunteered recently won’t be extended invitations, according to Wojnarowski. There’s no timetable on a Holiday decision.

Holiday, of course, has other things on his mind as he tries to adapt to another Eastern Conference contender. He was traded twice in recent weeks, first to Portland from Milwaukee in the Damian Lillard blockbuster and then to the Celtics.

Celtics Notes: Holiday, Mazzulla, Gabriel, Redick

October 4th, 2023 at 10:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

Celtics owners, front office members and even Hall of Famers were raving about Jrue Holiday‘s performance Wednesday in his first practice with the team, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Co-owner Wyc Grousbeck said the energy reminded him of the first practice session after Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were acquired in 2007. Co-owner Steve Pagliuca said Paul Pierce told him he had never seen anything to match Holiday’s intensity, then Pagliuca offered a few superlatives of his own.

“I don’t think we’ve ever seen Jaylen Brown be stopped going to the hoop with a full head of steam, and he just ran right into Jrue,” Pagliuca said. “And that was it. It was incredible. One of the most incredible things I’ve seen in practice.”

Pagliuca added that the organization has been enamored with Holiday for years and had been hoping he would eventually become available. That opportunity arose after he was sent to Portland last week in the Damian Lillard trade, and the Celtics were determined that they wouldn’t be outbid when the Trail Blazers put him back on the market. Holiday said that as soon as the trade was finalized, Boston coach Joe Mazzulla sent him video clips of the team’s pick-and-roll coverages and offensive sets.

“From the beginning, (Mazzulla’s) told me my role is to do everything,” Holiday said. “Do everything, be all over the floor defensively, be able to control situations offensively, situations to calm us down and get good shots toward the end of games. But I think when it comes down to it, it’s about winning. It’s about keeping this culture of winning and Joe’s a part of that and the way he’s communicated with me has been awesome.”

There’s more from Boston:

Holiday told reporters that the Celtics have already had discussions with him about a contract extension and are hoping to reach an agreement on a long-term deal as soon as he becomes eligible, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.
Holiday credits Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin for helping him get to a place where he wanted to be, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “Portland blessed me,” Holiday said. “Joe Cronin did a great job of communicating with me on how I wanted to proceed. … Working with him was very easy, very seamless, and made all of this possible.”
Wenyen Gabriel, who signed with the Celtics on Tuesday, hopes to provide an answer to the team’s need for frontcourt depth, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. Gabriel isn’t guaranteed a roster spot, but he believes he can provide what the team needs. “I’m not thinking they’re expecting me to do anything new that’s out of the character of what I’ve already done in terms of bringing energy, toughness, getting us extra possessions, being able to switch, being versatile out there, running the floor, being athletic, blocking shots,” Gabriel said. “There’s a lot of different things I can do defensively, being a good help defender. So there’s a lot of things that I already do as a player.”
Former NBA guard JJ Redick revealed on his podcast that the Celtics offered him a job as an assistant coach last September and again when Damon Stoudamire left in March, relays Brian Robb of MassLive.